Flavoured tea while fasting

Antmcd1392
Antmcd1392 Posts: 7 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about drinking flavoured tea during a fasting period. I know I can drink normal tea and coffee without any milk or sugar/sweetener.

I have googled it but its a bit of a grey area. I start my fast at 8pm and that lasts until 12pm. This is helpful for me because of when my lunch falls at work but in the evening I would like to change it up a bit by having maybe a fruit or peppermint tea ?

Replies

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,944 Member
    Lets approach this from this point: what do you think will happen if a bit of flavour ads one calorie or less to your cup of tea? I don't mean that you might potentially break your fast, but what would it mean for you and why would it be potentially bad?
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,758 Member
    Antmcd1392 wrote: »
    Hi. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about drinking flavoured tea during a fasting period. I know I can drink normal tea and coffee without any milk or sugar/sweetener.

    I have googled it but its a bit of a grey area. I start my fast at 8pm and that lasts until 12pm. This is helpful for me because of when my lunch falls at work but in the evening I would like to change it up a bit by having maybe a fruit or peppermint tea ?

    It's your life. Don't let it be run by some random rules someone may post on the internet. Be a rebel. You'll be better for it. If you want the flavored tea, have the flavored tea.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,269 Member
    Anything like this, I'd always suggest running the experiment, and seeing what happens.

    Drink the flavored tea regularly for a month during your fasting period. Then don't drink it for a month. Was your weight loss faster without it (I'm betting not, personally)? Was your appetite easier to manage with or without it, making it easier to stick with reduced calories? (That's more individual/subjective.) Did you observe any other differences - energy level, mood, sleep, whatever? (Also individual/subjective.)

    Then you'll know what it does in your case: Useful information.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Antmcd1392 wrote: »
    Hi. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about drinking flavoured tea during a fasting period. I know I can drink normal tea and coffee without any milk or sugar/sweetener.

    I have googled it but its a bit of a grey area. I start my fast at 8pm and that lasts until 12pm. This is helpful for me because of when my lunch falls at work but in the evening I would like to change it up a bit by having maybe a fruit or peppermint tea ?

    I was going to give a whole answer about fasting in general and clean v dirty fasting but then I saw Celestial Seasonings peppermint tea doesn't even have any calories, whereas coffee has two calories, so it's kind of moot.

    https://celestialseasonings.com/products/peppermint-herbal-tea

    9u7olfg5ro2g.png
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,224 Member
    If there's no calories and specifically carbs, like sugar then your ok. Nothing bad is going to happen anyway, but calories in general in the context of a fast will interrupt certain metabolic processes that happen during a fast, is it that important, not really and most IF is about the eating window, making it shorter and the possible result of consuming less calories. If the taste of flavored teas temp you to indulge in food, then it might not be appropriate.

    It's like sugar substitutes for people on keto. yes you can have substitutes because it doesn't effect insulin and there are no calories but if the sweet taste makes you indulge in other foods, then it's probably a given that not partaking in sugar substitutes is going to keep you on track a little bit better. Same same but different. Cheers.

Categories